Ebay sellers...

[Peter Miller]

Considering the insane prices asked and received for some vintage kits it is probably not quite as wild as some people think.

Having posted a camera, telephoto lens and book a few weeks ago and paid over £20 for next day insured parcel force I can say that the postage is very reasonable

[Alan Hilton]

It’s not just modelling stuff that’s overpriced I have been looking at classical guitars of late .Many buy it now prices are more than the new UK price ,as are opening bid levels on auction items . It doesn’t make sense to me

Alan

[trebor]

Could someone tell me what would be an average price for a Sig Liberty Sport 57" kit. I've seen a couple for sale but don't really want to get my fingers burnt.

[Peter Miller]

A Sig Liberty Sport kit sold in the UK for £137 and one sold in the USA for £76.

Lookon Ebay advance search completed listings. A very valuable feature for pricing

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by trebor on 08/12/2017 10:16:20:

Could someone tell me what would be an average price for a Sig Liberty Sport 57" kit. I've seen a couple for sale but don't really want to get my fingers burnt.

I think I sold mine for £80 or 90 last year.

[trebor]

Thankyou gentlemen there is one on eBay but it's pickup only.

[Jon H]

There are some Lasers on ebay at the moment with sufficiently dubious descriptions to make me suspicious of their condition.

One is labelled as a 100 and was apparently tested on a 15x6. The fact that its a 150 means that it should have thrashed the 15x6 almost to death and revealed itself to not be a 100. Makes me wonder if it was tested at all :/

[Peter Miller]

I can never understand people who list items that can be posted as "Collection ONly" They are losing at least 50% of prospective buyers.

I have a friend who has been prepared to drive long distances to buy helicopters. He gets them for bargain prices.

Now he has decided to sell a lot of them off but he will post them. He gets far higher prices.

A kit in't hard to post. I just posted one off a while ago. cost me £11

[David Davis]

Posted by Jon Harper - Laser Engines on 08/12/2017 12:26:50:

There are some Lasers on ebay at the moment with sufficiently dubious descriptions to make me suspicious of their condition.

One is labelled as a 100 and was apparently tested on a 15x6. The fact that its a 150 means that it should have thrashed the 15x6 almost to death and revealed itself to not be a 100. Makes me wonder if it was tested at all :/

There are some people who advertise aeromodelling stuff on eBay who are not aeromodellers, therefore they bring a wealth of ignorance to the products they are trying to sell, demand totally unrealistic prices and provide incorrect descriptions.

[Don Fry]

Bloke does say he is stripping engine, changing bearings. Some familiarity claimed.

Edited By Don Fry on 08/12/2017 16:16:33

[Tom Major]

Now this is how the sale should look like

[Tom Thomas]

Link it tom 😀

[Tom Major]

**LINK**

His other listings are similar

[Simon P]

No criticism of this sale but it has become a bit of a spectacle. It seems to up by another £100 each time I check on it. It's an Ok Model Pilot brand 3 channel trainer kit currently at I've £500. I would never have thought that it'd fetch that kind of money and if you view the bidding history you'll notice it is not just the usual coming together of two buyers who put large amounts down it is at least 3 or 4 driving it up. I would be quite pleased if I were the seller! Here's the link **LINK**

[Peter Miller]

I don't care what anyone says, that is an insane price for a kit. Especially a simple trainer

[Martin Dance 1]

I agree Peter the present bid is insane. I wonder, though if when the auction ends the winning bidder will realise exactly what he/she has done and not pay up? It's obviously silly season on Ebay. A couple of days ago an ED single channel TX, not a Black Prince but one with a red case sold for £412, You got a red covered case containing a valve or two, no doubt a coil and a capacitor and some battery leads. No antenna, no keying button etc. Madness.

[Wilco Wingco]

You can still find some good deals though. Won this Great Planes Cub last month for £51 !!!.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yellow-Piper-Cub-RC-Plane-/282741763504?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=9q9dFrXi7d16Z8a%252FiOqe%252FysgpY8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

All the servos work, including flaps, OS 70 Surpass runs a treat, well it's O.S. The seller even "found" 2 brand new spare props and an new uncut cowl.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

If anyone is sitting on a pile of old kits, I wouldn't count on them as an investment for too much longer, as these things only accrue "value" due to nostalgia and the market must be shrinking by the day. In a few years time, that kit will be a cardboard box with a few pieces of dried out balsa and some artifacts in plastic bags...and it's not even a Spitfire despite the illustrations!

[Simon Feather]

How about this one **LINK** - the American version of the BMFA Dart - available from the BMFA for £3, a snip at £53 plus £13 postage....

[Peter Miller]

Yes but have you seen the postage and import charges?

I looked to see if the seller was called Donald TRump

[Robin Colbourne]

Posted by Martin Harris on 13/12/2017 10:49:16:

If anyone is sitting on a pile of old kits, I wouldn't count on them as an investment for too much longer, as these things only accrue "value" due to nostalgia and the market must be shrinking by the day. In a few years time, that kit will be a cardboard box with a few pieces of dried out balsa and some artifacts in plastic bags...and it's not even a Spitfire despite the illustrations!

There's a cycle to the value of hobby stuff. If you think back to what you wanted as a a teenager, but couldn't afford, that is the stuff that will be climbing at meteoric prices when you hit your 50s/60s/70s, and have the cash to go after it and maybe the time to enjoy it. In model terms it was Wakefield rubber models, old petrol engines, early diesels and control line models twenty years ago. Now that generation have largely died out, it is early RC gear, pattern models and slope soarers and early R/C helicopters. In thirty years time, it will be the drones and foamies of today.

The other thing is that to some people who have done well and have a load of disposable cash, paying £500 for something they really want is less painful to them than £50 would be to you or me.

If you offer international postage as the seller of that Pilot Kit is, then that kit could be off to a collector anywhere in the world. If its the one Pilot Kit he hasn't got, then its could still be a bargain to him.

Now who's got a Micromold Centrefire gathering dust in their attic that they don't want?    Watching these aerotowing Middle Phases, then doing aerobatics all over the place at my first Sandown show put it high on my wants list.

One more thing. If you see something advertised as 'collection only', its always worth a message to the seller, asking if they would be willing to pack it, if you arrange and pay for the courier to collect it. Even offer to pay a bit for the packaging if necessary. I've had several say yes.

Edited By Robin Colbourne on 14/12/2017 12:18:09

Edited By Robin Colbourne on 14/12/2017 12:25:36

[Denis Watkins]

For under £20

Most carriers will pick up very large boxes from your door

And if you can drop off at their depot

£15 - £16 for example, I sent a tower computer, mouse, keyboard, printer, and monitor

In one large box to London, from Preston

[Bob Cotsford]

Posted by Martin Harris on 13/12/2017 10:49:16:

....... In a few years time, that kit will be a cardboard box with a few pieces of dried out balsa and some artifacts in plastic bags...

I've built several kits anything up to 50 years old using all the original materials. Unless they've been stored really badly then the wood will be fine.

Personally I wouldn't even consider trying to pack a completed model for a courier to collect. It's just too much of a risk of a refund claim for damaged goods with some of the scum around, even though they make up a minority of buyers.

I did once get a soarer delivered by courier. It had just been wrapped in a layer of bubble-wrap and looked like some sort of wierd christmas tree though it did survive it's journey.

[Cuban8]

Re collection only. I fancied an engine on BMFA a while back, that was advertised as collection only from the seller in the 'westcountry'. I offered an extra twenty quid to cover his costs and 'inconvenience' if he'd post it to me. Now we're talking about an item worth over £200, and let's face it, Devon, Somerset, or possibly Cornwall is hardly stuffed full of modellers (no offence) compared to the rest of the UK, so why limit your potential buyers for the sake of a bit of extra effort?

Anyway, no dice, he wasn't interested and neither was I - Item wound up not being sold! Not overly bothered, a better deal always turns up if you're not impatient.

[cymaz]

Posted by Cuban8 on 14/12/2017 12:47:31:

Re collection only. I fancied an engine on BMFA a while back, that was advertised as collection only from the seller in the 'westcountry'. I offered an extra twenty quid to cover his costs and 'inconvenience' if he'd post it to me. Now we're talking about an item worth over £200, and let's face it, Devon, Somerset, or possibly Cornwall is hardly stuffed full of modellers (no offence) compared to the rest of the UK, so why limit your potential buyers for the sake of a bit of extra effort?

Anyway, no dice, he wasn't interested and neither was I - Item wound up not being sold! Not overly bothered, a better deal always turns up if you're not impatient.

Ah..the perils of living in the back end of nowhere. One rc plane shop in Cornwall, now under new management..possibly 3-4 shops in Devon. However , I know of 8 clubs in Cornwall plus 2 non bmfa ( run off military sites).